2014 FIFA World Cup Draw Quote Sheet: U.S. MNT Players

MNTDec 6, 2013

U.S. Men’s National Team Goalkeeper TIM HOWARDOn his overall thoughts on the group:“I think it’s an extremely tough group, which we expected, but the fact that it’s tough does not mean that we can’t advance through the group. I think we
can. We’ll have to play at our best but I think we can.”

On opening against Ghana:“I think the memory will still be very fresh of the loss in the Round of 16 in 2010. I think that will help us more than it will them. We’re a much
stronger team than we were, and they’ll know that going into the game. We’ll look to set that result right.”

On Portugal:“It’s nearly an impossible task to completely shut down Cristiano Ronaldo, but I think from a team standpoint we match up well with Portugal. I think that
will be an important game because of how it falls in the group.”

On the U.S. World Cup history against Germany:“It’s exciting to have Jurgen on our sideline and the experience that he brings with his German background and quite a lot of the German-American players
that we have. As tough a team as Germany is, I think they’re certainly one of the favorites for the World Cup. We feel like we have an edge because we have
Jurgen’s experience and his inside knowledge of that team.”

On his previous World Cup experience and his thoughts on the next seven months of preparation:“There’s a lot of anticipation. Everything gets hyped up for the draw and there’s this letdown, this lull. It gets kind of quiet. The game in March will be
exciting to get back together. Then, from the time we meet up in June and have a camp, it’s a whirlwind. There are so many things going on. We just need to
kind of buckle down and focus. Focus on our own training and our own performances. I feel like when we finally land in Brazil, that we’ve done everything
we can to prepare.”

On where he thinks the team stands right now:“We’re excited. We’re looking forward to the challenge and we think we’re a good team. We think we’re a good team that can get better in a lot of areas.
That’s going to be the challenge for us and the motivation for us in the next six months.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Midfielder MICHAEL BRADLEYOn his thoughts about the group:“Group of Death. When you look closer, four teams that in the last World Cup in 2010 all got out of their group. On our end, we know that we’re going to be
tested at the highest level every minute of every game, but you don’t go to the World Cup expecting any easy games. On our end, now we’re excited to know
who we play, when we play and where we play. We’ll use the time leading up to the World Cup to make sure we’re ready to go on June 16.”

On having gone through this before and what the next six months mean for preparations for the National Team:“The way the calendar is set up, it’s up to each guy to individually in their club situation keep themselves going, keep themselves moving along because
the reality is there is one game in March where we’ll be together for a few days but after that we’ll all come together at some point at the end of May and
have a few weeks to make sure everything right and really put the finishing touches on everything. That time always goes quick.”

On the USA’s history against Ghana and playing Ghana in the opening game of the group:“It’s crazy to think that you start a World Cup against the same team that you finished the last World Cup. It’s certainly a team that we know, a team that
between their athleticism and between the individual talent and skill that so many of their players have, it’s a very good team. We know what they’re all
about but at the same time I think it’s a good way to start.”

On playing against Portugal:“Portugal had a little bit of trouble coming out of qualifying in Europe but that doesn’t say much because there are so many good teams in Europe. For me,
like I said, Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now. He has shown, even when you look at the two games with Sweden, that he has the ability to,
in a way unlike any other player in the world, put his team on his shoulders and will them and carry them. We have, for sure, a lot of respect for their
team and we know it will be really difficult.”

On his memories of watching the U.S. play Portugal in 2002:“I remember getting up very early in the morning to watch. I might have even maybe been a few minutes late and turned on the TV right as John O’Brien was
scoring. But, yeah, I remember that game and remember so much from that World Cup.”

On playing against Germany in the third group game:“When you look at over the past 10 years, World Cups, European Championships, they’re there at the end, semifinals and finals. There are a number of guys
on our team that have experience playing in the Bundesliga. Having played against them this summer certainly we’ll feel that we have a good idea what their
team is all about and we’ll know that that last game is going to really show if we’re ready to move on to the knockout stages.”

On whether he knows any of the Germany players, having spent a portion of his career there:“I know Marco Reus from Dortmund well. I played with him at [Borussia Moenchengladbach] for a few years. For me, he’s one of the best young attacking
players in the world right now. I think having said that, they have a whole team full of those kinds of guys. It’s a young, exciting attacking team and we
know what kind of effort it will take from us on that day.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Defender DAMARCUS BEASLEYOn the team’s readiness for the World Cup:“This team has a good mix of youth and experience, so we’re excited. The team that is selected to go to Brazil will do the job to try to get out of the
group.”

On the Group G draw:“Playing Ghana in the first game, I hope we get a good result. At the same time, playing Germany and Portugal in the next two games, if we can get points
or anything out of those, we should be OK.”

On Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo:“Ronaldo is a phenomenal talent. There’s not a one-man-defending show to stop him. You’re going to need the whole team basically, but we know and we’re
going to try our best to do that. If he’s on my side, I’m going to try to push him inside not let him get you in a one-on-one and also have help from my
midfielders and defenders.”

On the international games to get ready for the tournament:“When we go to Russia, when we got to Austria, when we got Italy and we play those types of teams – Jurgen wants to throw us in the deep end and see how we
do. Those types of games get us ready for the type of games we’re going to be playing in the World Cup.”

On Portugal being a one-man team:“I think they have a lot of weapons. I don’t think they’re a one-man show. Obviously Cristiano Ronaldo did something special against Sweden in the last
game, but at the same time they’re a good team. They have all good players, and defensively they’re pretty strong.”

On U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann:“
He’s a spirited coach. He’s very animated and he lets you express yourself on the field. He basically says this is where I’m going to put you – now go and
do the job. He lets the personality come out on the field. Such as Clint, such as Jozy I think those guys enjoy playing for Klinsmann.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Forward CLINT DEMPSEYOn being drawn in Group G:“It’s going to be a difficult group, and there are a lot of other difficult groups as well. There’s excitement amongst our team because we have a good
group of guys. And this is what the World Cup’s about, playing the best teams. The trick is to get off to a good start, try to get out of the group and
then see what happens.”

On the USA’s goals in the tournament:“We want to put ourselves in a position to get out of the group and that means getting points. I don’t look at it like we’re the underdog, I just look at
it like we want to get points in every game. I still think that our team has the quality that if we play our best ball, we can get out of the group.”

On some of the factors that go into playing in a difficult group:“You can’t think about ‘Am I the favorite, am I the underdog? What’s it going to be like playing in the heat or with the travel?’ Those are factors that
come into it but at the end of the day both teams have to deal with them. You both deal with the conditions, with injuries, with yellow cards. It’s all
part of the World Cup. Anything can happen and anything can happen on a given day.”

On facing Ghana for the third-consecutive World Cup:“We’ve played them the last two world cups and maybe it’s an opportunity for us to get them back. We feel hard done by because the last two times we played
them they crushed our dreams of going further in the World Cup. We’re due a win.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Midfielder SACHA KLESTJANOn the group:“We saw once everything was finished that we’re getting a really difficult draw. I think it pretty much is the Group of Death. Nothing’s going to be easy
when you go to the World Cup and we’re going to be prepared by the time we get down to Brazil. Now, I think everyone is just excited to play the games.
It’s going to be an exciting 2014.”

On what he is looking forward to following the draw:“It’s nice to hopefully get some revenge against Ghana. We play them in the first game, and in the last couple of World Cups they’ve been the team that
knocked us out. So to get some revenge against them would be a nice start to the tournament. Then we play two very good European teams in Germany and
Portugal. Playing against one of the best players in the world in Cristiano Rinaldo is something that every player looks forward to.”

On the biggest initial challenge of the group:“The first challenge is getting points in the first game. You always want to start the tournament off on the right foot. So, the biggest challenge will be
hopefully getting three points in the first game against Ghana.”

On the travel the team will undergo:“That’s something us as Americans are used to coming from such a big country. I think guys who have played in MLS are used to taking 3,000-mile trips
across the country to play. I know when you go to New York or L.A., things like that. Obviously, we’re used to these long trips that we have between Europe
and the United States when we have World Cup qualifiers. Taking a 10-hour flight is nothing new to us, and then having to play three days later. I think as
a big country, as Americans, we’re prepared for the travel and will do fine with that.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Forward EDDIE JOHNSONOn the draw:“The hard part is getting to the World Cup, and that’s something that we have done already. Once you qualify for the World Cup – and, we’re talking about
the biggest sporting event in the world – I think it’s anyone’s opportunity to lift the trophy and be considered the best country in the world.
Unfortunately we got some really good countries that have some unbelievable players and good experience. At the end of the day, you want to play against
the best. We couldn’t have a better opportunity than to play against such amazing countries as Ghana, Portugal and Germany.”

On his thoughts of the difficulty of Group C:“When they say the Group of Death, we have to look at ourselves, as well. We’re the U.S. National Team and if it’s considered the Group of Death [because
we are a part of it], it shows how far the country has come and how big football is in America. We have a lot of experience within our team with a lot of
players who have proven they can play in the big leagues in Europe and can play against these players who will represent their countries. We have an
unbelievable coaching staff, and I can assure you that when it comes time for the coach to pick the team, it’s going to be a good team that goes to
Brazil.”

On the biggest challenge of the group:“We have to take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead. Just focus on one team at a time. We have the first game against Ghana and right now our
coaching staff is preparing for that first game. Coach Jurgen [Klinsmann], Martin [Vasquez] and Andy [Herzog] all have experience to get us prepared
physically, mentally and tactically when that game comes to step on the field with the right mentality.”

On what is most exciting about the USA’s group:“What’s exciting about this draw is that it’s time for us as a National Team to show how far soccer has come in this country and to earn the respect that
we worked hard to have. If you go back to the 2006 World Cup and look at where the team was to where the team is now, we have a lot more guys playing
consistently in the big leagues and gaining experience within our National Team. That’s making us a stronger National Team. When we face these European
teams and bigger teams, [we are] pulling out results in the past three to four years like getting a good result in Italy and playing against the bigger
teams like Germany in D.C. For us, and for the rest of the world, it shows how far we’ve come, and we couldn’t ask for a better draw than Germany Portugal
and Ghana.”

U.S. Men’s National Team Goalkeeper BRAD GUZANOn the draw:“It’s exciting. It’s going to be three tough games, but it’s the World Cup. It’s what you go through qualifying for and it’s what you work for. It’s the
biggest tournament in the world, so to be able to represent your country at a World Cup regardless of who you play, it’s exciting. As players, when you see
your country pulled into group it becomes all that more real and you can start slowly preparing for it.”

On the difficulty and history of the teams in Group G:“They’re going to be three tough games. We know that in the World Cup there are no easy games, regardless of what pot you are in and who you’re going
against, every game is difficult. To have that history, it’s just going to add a little bit more excitement to those games and I’m sure as those games
approach people will then start talking about those past games the U.S. played them, so it’s just going to add to the buzz around the World Cup.”

On playing Ghana to start the World Cup:“Obviously to be knocked out by them in 2010, it’s kind of crazy that we’re going to be starting this World Cup against them. We know it will be a tough
game, but I know it’s a game we’re going to go in with a lot of confidence and look forward to it. Hopefully starting the tournament on the right foot,
that’s with three points and a win.”

On facing Portugal in the World Cup:“They’re a good team, and any time you can qualify to a World Cup out of Europe, I think it speaks volumes. We know that will be tough, and obviously the
attention I’m sure will be on Cristiano Ronaldo and his ability as an individual and what he brings to their team. There’s a reason why year and year out
he’s talked about as one of the best, if not the best player, in the world. He’ll create a challenge, but it’s exciting. In the World Cup, you want to be
facing the best and you want to be going up against the best and there’s not too many that are better than him.”

On facing Germany in the World Cup:“That game is going to mean a lot to a lot of people on different levels. As a whole, as a country, as a team, the most important thing is to finish the
group stage on a positive note and hopefully we’ll be advancing out of the group after that game. “Every World Cup, every year, Germany is obviously a
world powerhouse, but you want to play against the best and to go against someone like Germany it will be a great opportunity.”

On where the team is at this point:“Right now, I think we’re full of confidence and we know what qualifying in our region is all about. It’s never easy, so to have the year that we had in
leading up to the World Cup, it creates a buzz around the team and the country and the supporters that get behind us. For us as a team and as a group, I
think we’re constantly growing and getting better, which is important, and you need that. I think the most important thing is that we’re full of
confidence. We’ve played a lot of games in Europe against European competition we’ve played the big teams and in the U.S. we’ve played a lot of teams
around the world that are difficult games that hopefully have prepared us for the World Cup.”

U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder JERMAINE JONESOn watching the draw from Germany:
“We were sitting around at Schalke watching. Before the draw were making jokes with the German guys and [Kevin-Prince] Boateng, who plays for Ghana about all of us being in the same group. We were joking around with each other but everybody has respect for each other and it’s a really tough group.”

On facing Germany as a German-American…
“For me, I was born in Germany and have played my whole life here. My mom is German and all my friends are Germans living in Germany. It’s a big game. It was big when we were playing in Washington, D.C. but now it’s a World Cup and a higher level.”

On the teams in Group G…
“Germany is the biggest team and has the most pressure to go the next round. Portugal has Cristiano Ronaldo and those are the two teams who everybody is saying should make it to the next round. But Ghana have some good players too with Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien and the Ayew brothers from Marseille. It’s a hard group for us and we have a lot of respect but we’re not scared and we’ll see what happens. We know we have to work hard before the World Cup so when we get to Brazil we’re focused. The teams in our group are big and they have big players but during the last three years we’ve faced big teams and have showed we can play with them.”